Infernal
=Investment= Sometimes, a Demon goes beyond mere Possession, to full Claiming. The human's soul begins to wither to a husk, and the Demon hopes to use it to manifest its full will in the world. The Infernal are the result of such a merging. An Infernal is a major Supernatural Template, and follows all the rules for such, identically to Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Changelings and Prometheans. Investment represents the power the Infernal has to invoke its will on the world. Without a host body, Demons are ephemera, and follow all the normal rules for such. When permanently merged into a mortal host, an Infernal loses its Rank, replacing it with Investment. Every two dots of Investment are the equivalent of one dot of Rank when it was ephemeral. An Infernal below Investment 5 gains a Passion pool equal to 10 + Investment, and may spend one Passion per turn per point of Investment. Their Vices are capped by their Investment, except for their two Favored Vices, which may each be one dot higher. =Control= Infernals replace their Sanity trait with Control. For beings ruled by their Vices, Control is a vitally important trait. Whenever an Infernal rolls Resolve + Composure to resist Unleashing, they reduce their dice pool by 1 for every dot their Investment exceeds their Control. Likewise, for every dot that their Investment exceeds their Control, their Social rolls are penalized by 1 – something just seems wrong and creepy about their behavior, as if their Vices were too unwholesome and too close to the surface. =Hierarchy of Stupidity= An Infernal's Control is less about committing Sin than about getting caught – the key point in an Infernal's morality is that it's okay to be bad, just don't be dumb about it or you'll have your ass handed to you by angry mobs with pitchforks. And for Hell's sake don't shit where you eat. 10 Indulging a Vice to your detriment (5 dice) 9 Caught committing minor selfish acts, accused of lying (5 dice) 8 Unleashing, injuring another accidentally (4 dice) 7 Caught committing petty theft or minor property damage (4 dice) 6 Caught committing grand theft, intentional injury, accidental mass property damage (3 dice) 5 Intentional maiming or mass property damage (3 dice) 4 Manslaughter, manipulating a human to their doom, slaying while Unleashed (3 dice) 3 Premeditated murder (2 dice) 2 Torture, utter disregard for human life (2 dice) 1 Senseless torture, mass murder (2 dice) =Passion= Passion is the raw emotional drive that pushes humanity towards greatness. It is the difference between mere being, and the will to carve the world in your own image. Demons harvest Passion by indulging in their Vices, or by encouraging others to indulge their Vices. Whenever a Demon encourages another person to indulge in their Vice, the target does not regain Will or Morale. Instead, the Demon rolls Investment+Vice, gaining one Passion per success. If the Vice is aligned with one of the Infernal's two favored Vices, they may choose to regain one point of Will per success, instead of regaining Passion, and may mix gaining Passion and Will in any ratio desired. Whenever a Demon indulges any Vice that they possess at least one dot in, they may either regain one point of Will, or one Passion. If they indulge in one of their two favored Vices, they may roll Resolve+Composure, gaining one Will or Passion per success. =Principalities= Each of the seven Vices has a Principality of Demons that rules over it. An Infernal's Principality grants them one Attribute that always gains 8-again and that may be raised above 5, and one of their two favored Vices. Lastly, all Infernals have an Urge – a compulsion to spread misery and destruction. Each Principality's Urge is mechanically identical to the Talent and Frailty and of a particular Slasher Undertaking. An Infernal always manifests their Ripper Talent and Frailty, due to their Demonic nature. However, when the Infernal Unleashes, they add their Investment to their Favored Attribute, and gain the benefits and drawbacks of their supernatural Talent and Frailty as well. =Unleashing the Demon= An Infernal may choose to Unleash their Urge for one scene by Pushing themselves Mentally, then rolling Resolve + Composure with a -1 penalty per dot that their Investment exceeds their Control. Success means they can control their actions to a certain degree, within the constraints of their Urge. Failure means they lose themselves to their Demon until it gets what it wants. An Infernal's Demon may “slip the leash” accidentally, as well. Whenever an Infernal indulges their Principality's Vice, if they gain more total Passion+Will than their Control, their Urge is immediately Unleashed for one scene per point that the Passion and Will gained exceeded their Control. After this time, they may roll Resolve + Composure to attempt to regain control, penalized by -1 die per dot that their Investment exceeds their Control. Failure in this roll means the Demon is Unleashed until events unfold. =Vices and Numina= Vices are the Infernal equivalent to Disciplines, Gifts, or Arcana. Vices begin life before the merge, as the merging Demon's Influences. Even after the merge, they tend to follow similar rules. An Infernal always favors two of these Vices – one for the mortal's original Vice, and one for the Demon's original Principality. If the original mortal and Demon shared a Vice, then the Infernal gets to pick its second favored Vice upon completing the merge. Like all such traits, an Infernal's rank in each Vice is limited by his Investment, with favored Vices purchasable at one rank higher until Investment 5. A new Infernal allocates 3 dots to Vices, two of which must be allocated to his two favored Vices. During play, favored Vices may be raised by spending (new rank x 5) Experience, while other Vices may be raised by spending (new rank x 7) Experience. Numina Linked to Vices are Numina – individual powers that the Infernal can call on. Each Infernal Numen requires a minimum number of dots of one or more Vice to purchase. Numina require one Passion per dot to activate unless the Infernal Favors the Numina's Vice, in which case the cost is reduced by one Passion (to a minimum activation cost of one Passion). Vestments Vestments are a special kind of Numina, that are only purchasable by Infernals of a single Principality. Unlike other Numina, Vestments never have an activation cost. Vestments are physical alterations to the Infernal's body that automatically manifest whenever the Infernal Unleashes, granting all their benefits and drawbacks whenever the Infernal's Demon is Unleashed. All Vestments are obvious changes to the Infernal's body, and displaying them will quickly blow the Infernal's cover. Castigations Castigations are extended rituals that may be learned by Infernal characters. To perform a Castigation, the Infernal must perform an appropriate sacrifice, and must possess an Investment equal to or higher than the level of the Castigation. Castigations are described in Hunter: the Vigil. * Infernal Visions (*) * Mandate of Hell (*) * Sense of the Unrighteous (*) * Tongue of Babel (*) * Gaze of the Penitent (**) * Shackles of Pandaemonium (**) * Summon Familiar (**) * Calling Forth the Pit (***) * Offering of Possession (***) =Infernal Legions= The Lucifuge The Lucifuge are a group of Infernal Demon-hunters supposedly imbued with the blood of Lucifer himself. They claim to devote themselves to purging the world of other demonic influences, and keeping the world safe for humanity. Despite their calling, members of the Lucifuge are not Hunters, but are fully invested Infernals. As such, Lucifuge characters should be created using the Infernal Supernatural Template. The Circle of Ourboros The Circle of Ourboros believe that repentance is possible, even for the Damned. They believe that they must focus their powers inwards and learn restraint, gradually learning to quell the Demon inside them entirely. While their Demon is trapped inside them, they reason, it can't be out in the world, sowing discord and misery. The Circle of Ourboros tend to operate much like a mortal "Twelve Step" recovery program, encouraging each other to maintain tighter holds on their Leashes, and "forgiving" each other when they "relapse". Most of the Castigations that the Circle of Ourboros teaches its members involve restraining their Urges (which they call "Biting the snake's tail"), blending in more effectively with mortal society, and encouraging mortals to explore their Vices in "healthy" manners. Faustians Faustians revel in their demonic gifts, living lives of hedonistic self-indulgence and inflicting their Vices on anyone they choose. They aren't stupid about it, of course, but they certainly see their Infernal investment as a wonderful thing, and have no intention of wasting it on anything so petty as "remorse". Temple of the Black Dawn The Templars are the demonic scholars, researchers, and deal brokers. They explore the lore and history of demonkind, collect artifacts, and claim that they can attain anything - for a price.